I am registered as a speaker for the DMA conference starting today and I’m very much looking forward to what looks like an exciting conference with a great lineup of speakers and sessions.

What I have been less impressed with is the show sponsors’ approach to marketing. For instance, one day last week I received 22 pieces of direct mail from sponsors of the event (and 5-10 most other days).

One question that we often get asked is 'how can we develop world class digital capability?' It often comes after companies have tried traditional methods that, when done in isolation, are doomed to failure.

A common tactic tried by many is to hire ‘digital gurus’ to come and magically fix their problems. They are then frequently isolated and over stretched so they often move on after six months due to frustration and a lack of understanding of their role.

Or, in today's job market where digital skills are at a premium, they simply get a better package elsewhere.

On the flip side, some companies invest in training for their ‘traditional marketers’ without considering that there are organizational elements of the business that need to change as well.

Add to this a market that constantly evolves and the resistance to change most people have and you have a heady concoction of failure.

I’m excited to say that we can now offer two new masters programmes to add to our established MSc in Digital Marketing Communications. We’ve been working on them for about a year now, making sure that they are both academically sound and fulfil the needs of the digital industry. We were delighted when the assessment panel passed them both on Tuesday.

We’ve just launched our 2009 Breakfast Briefing sessions which aim to give digital marketers a quick digital boost before the day starts. The short sessions start at 8.30am and finish at 10.15am and are intentionally designed to give quick actionable tips that you can return to the office and actually action straight away.

Our first session ‘Optimising your Digital Business using the 80:20 rule
‘ works on the premise that in many digital campaigns there are a lot
of quick and easy wins which will significantly improve your ROI and
yet most businesses are missing the opportunity to do so.

I’m excited to be back in New York next month and while I’m hoping to find some time to pop to the shops, we’re mostly there to find out more about digital marketing in the US and meet new people who work in the industry.

Last week saw the first residential part of E-consultancy's Graduate Academy at Reading University and I can honestly say that it was both a pleasure and to some degree, a surprise.

We had three days of intensive teaching lined up for our successful 28 delegates with the aim of making sure they have a sound grounding in all things digital. Eight trainers, three client speakers and 30 hours of teaching later and we hope the process is well under way.

Chinwag's Digital Skills Survey at the end of 2007 proved yet again what we all know, that our industry is struggling to find and retain the best candidates which is leading to spiralling wage inflation in our sector, undermining growth and restricting profits. The figures, afterall, speak for themselves:

97% of respondents find it either difficult or impossible to attract the right digital staff for their businesses

57% of respondents reported that the digital skills shortage impeded the growth of their business in 2007

75% of businesses are planning to increase the salaries of digital staff